Alex Reid

I have been a Netflix subscriber off and on for the past couple of years. I’ve always complained that there is a lack of content for Canadian subscribers; a truck stop gas station has a better selection of video titles than Netflix (in Canada).

It’s gotten better in recent months however, especially with TV shows. Now Canadians can find Breaking Bad, Dexter, Mad Men, Walking Dead, Weeds, Kids in the Hall, and just recently all of the X-files.

Recently I was surprised by a new TV show addition released last week: Lilyhammer.

Lilyhammer is a Norwegian-American television series, starring Steve Van Zandt (The Sopranos) who plays a New York City mobster in the witness protection program starting over in Norway.

The show is quite good. I highly recommend watching it. Van Zandt isn’t an actor, but if you liked Sopranos, you can easily look past that. And what’s even more amazing is that the show is a first for Netflix, it’s their own programming venture.

The show premiered on Norwegian NRK1 on January, 25th 2012 to a record audience equal to one fifth of the Norwegian population, and two weeks later it premiered on Netflix.

Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer of Netflix, recently said that 60% of viewing on Netflix’s newly separated streaming business is for TV episodes, with Mad Men and Breaking Bad being most popular, and they plan on expanding their TV presence.

Last March, Netflix outbid the major TV networks for the rights to the David Fincher/Kevin Spacey drama House Of Cards (a remake of a popular British miniseries). There’s talk that Netflix may revive the cult favourite Arrested Development that saw fans of the show unsuccessfully lobby Fox to bring back.

“If you want to see what people really want, look at what they’re stealing.” - Ted Sarandos, Netflix Chief Content Officer

I really dislike where the television industry has gone, and I hope Netflix really shakes them up. I for one, won’t be cancelling my Netflix account as I had planned to later this month.

Oh, and Lilyhammer’s second season already been commissioned.